Nigerian Football
SAMUEL OKWARAJI: 30 YEARS AFTER…
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
How time flies! It is 30 years today since a Nigerian football midfield maestro; Samuel Okwaraji was martyred on the turf of the National Stadium, Lagos.
The then bubbling 25-year old
player suddenly slumped and died 10 minutes to the end of an Italia ’90 World
Cup qualifying match of Nigeria with Angola.
The result of the match, a 1-0 win for Nigeria, has certainly gone into oblivion. But the other sad events keep memories to linger on.
Not only did Okwaraji die, five other fans, also died of exhaustion and suffocation in a tightly packed arena that was being reopened for matches after a season of closure.
What an irony! The first time Okwaraji played at the National Stadium was the last time he lived.
It was just a day to the 10th anniversary of a previous disaster that claimed 24 lives at the same National Stadium, Lagos when IICC Shooting Stars defeated Bendel Insurance, 2-1 in a floodlit semi final match of the then Challenge Cup.
RELATED STORY: https://www.sportsvillagesquare.com/2018/08/11/29-years-after-an-eye-witness-account-with-photos-of-how-samuel-okwaraji-five-fans-died/
Okwaraji’s death was suspected to be complications of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy as an autopsy showed that he had an enlarged heart and high blood pressure.
His sudden death similar to that of Cameroon’s Marc-Vivien Foe who slumped during a FIFA Confederation Cup match in France in 2003.
In the case of Okwaraji, his death was bizarre. As the drab match progressed, an Angolan player slumped. Medical personnel rushed to administer treatment. It was barely 10 minutes to the end of the match.
RELATED STORY: https://www.sportsvillagesquare.com/2018/08/12/medical-experts-explains-possible-cause-of-okwarajis-death/
As attention focused on the injured Angolan player, and while some fans that had fainted by the sidelines were being attended to, dreadlocks haired Okwaraji suddenly slumped, face down. Few people would have thought it was mere exhaustion.
The nearest player to him, Samson Siasia, rushed to the prostrate form and tried him to face up.
RELATED STORY: https://www.sportsvillagesquare.com/2019/05/20/i-warned-against-fielding-okwaraji-on-the-day-he-died-says-pat-ekeji/
What he saw was frightening as he put his hands on his head in despair.
The following day, he told this
reporter: “The way I saw him, he was gasping and foaming. His teeth were
gritty… No one could easily ascertain the cause of his death. It still remains
a mystery.”
Earlier this year, on the occasion of his 55th posthumous birthday, search engine giants, Google, on Sunday May 19, 2019 him Google Doodle.
The Google Doodle is used on the search engine home page for different seasons or special days such as birthdays of famous people.
To his memory, a monument is put at the outer perimeter fence of the National Stadium, Lagos.
The miserable run of Akwa United and Ikorodu City came to an end after six games in the Nigerian Premier League this season. Both teams were initially glued at the bottom of the league table.
They now got respite as Akwa United beat Kano Pillar by 2-0 while Ikorodu City even did what could be considered an upset, beating Bendel Insurance 3-0.
Remo Stars bounced back to the top of the log after a 3-0 defeat of Nasarawa United. Shooting Stars are yet to get their rhythm this season, playing a barren draw with Enyimba in Ibadan.
Kwara United who got their first full points of the season last week after a 1-0 defeat of Remo Stars could not consolidate as they were beaten 1-0 by Abia Warriors.
Heartland under Emmanuel Amuneke are gradually recovering as they got a valuable away draw against El-Kanemi Warriors.
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
It is 75 years since Nigeria’s national football team first played an international match. That was on 8 October 1949 when the first set of Nigeria’s assembly on their return voyage stopped over in Freetown and engaged Sierra Leone in an international football match. Nigeria won 2-0, setting a chain of positive results on 8 October.
The country never lost any competitive duel on that date. More significantly, the Super Eagles first qualified for the World Cup on an 8 October date.
That was in 1993 when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Algeria in the quest for USA ‘94 World Cup.
Nigeria became the first English-speaking African country to qualify for the World Cup. Another significance of the October 8 match at the July 5 Stadium, Algiers is that Nigeria were unbeaten for the first time by Algeria at home.
The only deviation from the 8 October Magic was in 2015 when Nigeria lost 2-0 to Congo in a friendly match.
Twenty-six years after Nigeria’s debut international match, one of Africa’s biggest football nations, Egypt fell to the October 8 magic, losing 4-0 to Nigeria in the last stage of the triangular World Cup qualifying series for Argentina ’78.
Up till October 15, 2013, when Ghana beat Egypt 6-1 in Kumasi, the October 8, 1977 duel with Nigeria remained Egypt’s biggest loss in a World Cup qualifying match.
Before the 1977 duel, Nigeria in 1963 played a friendly match with Liberia in Monrovia. The October 8 magic was active, even in an away match. Nigeria drew 2-2 in their very first encounter with Liberia. It was shortly after the team had, through a protest, upturned a victory by Guinea to pick Nigeria’s very first African Nations’ Cup ticket.
Little wonder then that when FIFA suspended Nigeria in 2010, the world governing body provisionally lifted the ban on October 8!
Nigeria on 8 October
- 1949 – Freetown (Friendly) Sierra Leone 0-2 Nigeria
- 1963 – Monrovia (Friendly) Liberia 2-2 Nigeria
- 1977 – Lagos (World Cup qualifier) Nigeria 4-0 Egypt
- 1993 – Algiers (World Cup qualifier) Algeria 1-1 Nigeria… qualify for USA ‘94.
- 2005 – Abuja (World Cup qualifier) Nigeria 5-1 Zimbabwe
- 2010 – FIFA, in apparent respect to the 8 October magic, provisionally lifted a ban imposed on Nigeria.
- 2011 – Abuja (African Nations Cup qualifier) Nigeria 2-2 Guinea. Although undefeated, Nigeria failed to make it to the 2012 African Nations Cup.
- 2015 – D.R. Congo beat Nigeria 2-0 in Visé, Belgium. The ‘October 8 Magic’ is finally broken.
Rivers United have launched themselves to the top of the log at the end of the match day 5 of the Nigeria Premier League. The Port Harcourt side beat Akwa United 2-1 to go afloat after initial leaders, Remo Stars crumbled to a 1-0 defeat at Kwara United in Ilorin on Sunday.
It was Remo Stars’ first defeat in the season. Rivers United are now with 13 points. Stephen Mayo put Rivers United ahead after 31 minutes. But it turned a temporary lead as Akwa United bounced back almost at the blast of the referee’s whistle for the second half.
Friday Apollos levelled up for Akwa United before Ndifreke Effiong Udo scored the winner in the 85th minute.
Sunday Results
- Kwara United 1-0 Remo Stars
- Rangers International 1-0 Abia Warriors
- Heartland FC 2-0 Niger Tornadoes
- Kano Pillars 2-0 Sunshine Stars
- Plateau United 1-0 Ikorodu City
- Rivers United 2-1 Akwa United
- Enyimba 3-0 Katsina United* Suspended
- Nasarawa 0-0 Bayelsa United
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